The Presidentialization of Japan's LDP Politics: Analyzing Its Causes, Limits, and Perils

Abstract

This article examines the elevated status of the prime minister in the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government through the lens of Poguntke and Webb's presidentialization thesis. There are two distinctive characteristics in the Japanese case. First, its presidentialization does not occur as the evolution of the Westminster model and instead follows a unique path. Second, the reinforced position of the Japanese premiership is in essence the product of institutional reforms that the Japanese political class has enacted in the last two decades for the renewal of national strategies, which in turn means that the Japanese presidentialization is taking place by design at its core. Furthermore, the latter fact implies its potential risks-most importantly, the progress of presidentialization under the LDP's continued dominance can undermine check-and-balance functions in Japanese democracy to a hazardous degree.

Party centralisation, internal cohesion and leadership security: How UK prime ministers compare to Japanese prime ministers

“…If perceptions of leaders are central to voter choice – as evident from research on the 2005, 2010 and 2015 general elections (see Clarke et al . , 2009, 2016; Whiteley et al . , 2013) – then that could have been an incentive for parties to create the institutional arrangements that enable their leaders to have the autonomy to project themselves as strong leaders.…”

The contemporary UK prime minister. When the personal becomes political: Agency, character, personality and celebrity

“…To him, the point of politics – and life – is not to squabble over facts; it’s to offer people a story they can believe in’. Here this is the very modern, personalised prime minister creating, shaping and riding the narrative to their own advantage – the ‘imperial’ premiership (Rutter, 2020). This is in fact the very opposite of Heifetz on ‘teaching reality’ whereby ‘the essence of exercising leadership is about disappointing people at a rate they can stand, rather than merely office-holding’ (Heifetz, 1994, cited in Bennister et al .…”

How the mighty are fallen: Evaluating Abe Shinzō's leadership capital in crisis

“…Similarly, Uchiyama (2010) emphasises the need to consider both the institutional resources and the ‘resources based on personal qualities’ when exploring differences in prime ministerial leadership styles. These qualities include such aspects as ‘policy knowledge, judgement, ability to act and personal popularity’ (Uchiyama, 2010: 157).…”

“…Although some Japanese prime ministers have been singled out in the literature for being able to influence policy to a greater extent than others, the notion of strong prime ministerial leadership in Japan really came to the fore with Koizumi Junichirō's premiership. Book-length studies of Koizumi, notably Uchiyama (2010), explored aspects of Koizumi's personal style and skills to identify the secrets of his relative success. Uchiyama called him the ‘pathos prime minister’, who appealed to the electorate's emotions with dramatic, simple phrases.…”

“…Citing the ‘poor management’ of Abe 1.0 and Hatoyama, Takenaka (2019: 868) stresses that the presence of ‘effective institutions’ does ‘not enable all prime ministers to manage their administrations effectively’. Similarly, Uchiyama (2010) emphasises the need to consider both the institutional resources and the ‘resources based on personal qualities’ when exploring differences in prime ministerial leadership styles. These qualities include such aspects as ‘policy knowledge, judgement, ability to act and personal popularity’ (Uchiyama, 2010: 157).…”